Display sample-trunk.



No. 790,669; PATENTED MAY 23, 1905.

s. B. WINSHIP. DISPLAY SAMPLE TRUNK. APPLICATION PiLED SEPT. 16. 1904.

6 [raven-for, Stephen E.mn5hlp,

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UNITED. STATES Patented May 23, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

. DISPLAY SAMPLE-TRUNK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 790,669,,dated May 23, 1905. Application filed. September 15, 1904:. Serial No. 224,550.

'To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN E. WINSHIP,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident.

of the city of Malden, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts,.have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dis play Sample-Trunks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is-the construction of a sample-trunk for boots and shoes wherein the latter can be kept constantly firmly packed against movement and yet be capable of being every one displayed to view by the simple operation of opening the trunk.

My invention for this purpose comprises the arrangement of parts and the construction of improvements in fastening devices hereinafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective VlGW of a sample-trunk made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 isa detail view of a portion of the locking-bar by which the shoes are confined in position. Fig. 3 is a Fig. 4C is a vertical section of a part of the trunk, showing a shoe confined therein. I Fig. 5 is a detail view showing a part of one of the supporting-rods and Y the means for securing astrip of felt thereto,

and Fig. 6 is a plan view showing a part of the two supporting-rods of each row and the device for separating the shoes in each row.

From the base 1 of this sample-trunk rises the rear section 2, rigid therewith, while to the upper front edge of the latter is hinged the front section 3. When the front section is opened up, as shown in Fig. 1, the contents of each section are put into plain view, while when the front section is turned down against the rear section and the base the 'each pair not being on the same level and the rows being far enough apart to make room for the shoes in the various rows. Said rods in each row are arranged at different levels, as shown at 1'0 and 11 in Fig. 1, in order to give the proper inclination to the shoes in displaying them. To fasten the shoes in place upon said rods, the locking-bar 20 is used, it being pressed snugly down upon the insteps of the shoes in its row by means of suitable straps and buckles 25, passing about the rod 11 and said bar. Three such straps are preferably employed for each bar. A further device for securing the shoes in place consists of the strips 6, fixed to the back of each section and so positioned as to come immediately above the rounded heel part of the shoes of each row,-as in Fig. 4:, said strips and the backs themselves being covered with felt or other fabric 7 to keep the shoes from width between the heels and the soles of the shoes, while the resilience of the side sections or arms 15 causes them to press apart and snugly fit the spaces between the shoes'in each row.

The rods 10 11 are prevented from rubbing the under surface of the shoe-soles by meansof the strip of felt or other soft material 12, which is held in place on said rods by the passage of the latter through suitable openings inthe felt, so arranged that said felt strip passes beneath the separators 15 and thence up and along the parts of the said rods located between said separators,.as shown in Fig. 5. This brings the felt between the top surface of the parts of the rods supporting the shoes, while the part of the felt passing beneath the separators thereby keeps the strip from twisting over to the side or beneath the rods, and so out of the place for accomplishing the protective function desired.

To enable the locking-bars 20 to sufliciently press upon every one of the shoes in the row for which each bar is set, the latter are formed with notches 21, located to come over the insteps of the shoes, each such notch being provided with springs 22 for giving the desired yielding pressure to the shoe beneath. These springs are held in place by rivets or other suitable fastening devices, as shown in Fig. 2, but have their free ends at substantially the center of the notches. Then to keep the bar and springs from abrading the leather shoesurfaces, the strip of felt 23 is folded up about the bar and attached thereto by rivets 24 near the upper edges of such strip. In this manner, while all the shoes are snugly and firmly secured in place, there is no metal or other hard surface contacting with them, and conse quently no wear or abrasion thereof. At the same time the shoes are all displayed fully to the examination of the prospective buyer, there being no part thereof covered except that beneath the bar 20.

The rods or tubes 10 11 are preferably screwed into sockets 13, riveted to the section sides, so as to be incapable of removal; but the bars 20 must be made capable of withdrawal for the introduction and exchange of the shoes. To render said bars removable, the ends thereof are inserted into ways 26, constructed to permit movement toward and from the shoe insteps, but not otherwise. Said ways are preferably composed of a sheetmetal plate having two opposite edges bent up to constitute a channel for the ends of the bars.

Although not clearly shown, it is preferred to so locate the various rows of shoe-supports that when the trunk-section 3 is folded down in closing the trunk the projecting toes of the shoes in said section will fit in between the toes of the shoes in the back section. This permits of the shoes in both sections projecting considerably forward of the open sides of the trunk-sections, and so enables the trunk to accommodate shoes whose length is considerably more than one-half the horizontal depth of the trunk.

A sample-trunk thus made gives the shoes a perfect and immediate display by the mere act of opening it. The shoes are firmly held againstdislodgment and rubbing. The means for securing the shoes in place are simple, conveniently operated, durable, and comparatively inexpensive. This feature of having the shoes perfectly displayed the instant the trunk is opened is a most valuable one to shoe drummers, to Whom time is money and by whom their samples can thus be displayed, orders taken, the trunk clapped together again, and shipped off to the station in a' marked quickness of time to enable trains to be taken which might otherwise have been lost and hours or even a day spent in waiting for the next opportunity for departure.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and for which I desire Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit:

1. A sample-display trunk composed of a plurality of sections hinged to form a vertically-disposed series of compartments when open; each section having several pairs of horizontal fixed rods, each of which pairs is provided with a bar adjustably located parallel therewith; and said rods and bars being supplied with protecting material for preventing abrasion of the shoes carried between said rods and bars.

2. A sample-display trunk composed of a plurality of sections hinged together, each section having several pairs of horizontal fixed rods, the rear rod in each pair being located at a substantially higher level than the front rod of such pair; and each pair being provided with a locking-bar adapted to be adjustably pressed downward toward the same.

3. In ashoe-display device, the combination with two horizontal rods, of separators located on said rods at suitable distances apart, and a bar located parallel with said rods and adjustably pressed toward them.

a. In ashoe-display device, the combination with two horizontal rods, of yielding separators located on said rods at suitable distances apart, and a bar parallel with said rods and pressed toward them.

5. The combination with the shoe-supporting rods, of the separators penetrated by said rods, and the strips of soft material pierced by said rods at suitable intervals and passing alternately beneath said separators and along the upper surface of said rods.

6. The combination with a shoe-support consisting of two parallel rods, of a series of separators pierced by said rods, each thereof being composed of spring metal bent to form two arms and a connecting-base, and a strip of soft material located exterior to each said separator and pierced by said rods.

7 The combination with a shoe-support, of a locking-bar substantially parallel with said support, means for pressing said bar toward said support, a leaf-spring fixed to said bar upon the side toward said support, and a nonabrading covering for said spring.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of September, 1904..

STEPHEN E. WlNSllll.

Witnesses:

ALBERT W. VVINsuIP, FRED A. RoBY. 

